Ezekiel 33:7-11
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost - 24 September 2017
Rev. John Derme
Before we go on any longer this morning, we should probably post a watchman outside the church. Many Christians all over the world in the past and even in present times have had to post a watchman outside when they hold church services, because people from their government may come and arrest them or because followers of other religions may come and attack them.
A watchman has an important job. A watchman is chosen out of a group of people to keep everybody else safe. He watches out for enemies who would come to hurt the rest of the people in the group. Not everybody can watch all the time, so the watchman is responsible for everybody. If he stops paying attention, falls asleep, or simply ignores signs of danger, he is responsible for those who get hurt on his watch. So who is the watchman?
We do have watchmen of sorts at church today. Our ushers keep their eyes open for anything suspicious on Sunday mornings. Fortunately, you and I don't live in fear of the government arresting us or other religious groups attacking us at any moment. Far more importantly, though, we need another kind of watchman. Who is the watchman?
The Old Testament people of Israel would have been familiar with a watchman who was posted to keep a city safe from attackers. The Lord used the picture of a watchman in the First Lesson, but he wasn't talking about how important it is to watch for human enemies. The Lord posted a watchman, whose duty it was to warn people about the danger of their sins. He appointed Ezekiel to be a watchmen for the people of Israel.
The Lord spoke to Ezekiel: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. “Son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’”
Ezekiel lived in Babylon. The Babylonians had already taken many of the people of Judah into exile, and Ezekiel was one of those exiles. But when the Lord spoke the words of our First Lesson, the Babylonians had not yet destroyed the city of Jerusalem. That city was soon to fall, and the Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to prepare his people for that shocking news.
The opportunity to save Jerusalem may have been past, but the opportunity for the people to repent was not gone. The people were in exile because of their sins against God, and they knew it. Ezekiel was a messenger of that news. But even worse judgment was still to come for those who would not heed the warning and repent. God didn't want to judge the wicked. He wanted the people of Israel to repent of their sins and turn back to him. He was sending judgment on Israel because of his love for them. He wanted them to turn away from their sins and live eternally.
Ezekiel, of course, has been dead and gone for over 2500 years. He was a faithful watchman, and we still hear the warning recorded in his words. But he is not the watchman that God has appointed to speak directly to you. Who is the watchman that God has called for you? Just as Ezekiel was responsible to speak the Lord's word to Israel, your pastor is called to speak God's Word to you. God requires your pastor to preach his law to you, to show you your sin, and to warn you that you need to repent.
The pastor isn't the only watchman in your life, though. Your fellow Christians are watchmen, as well. These watchmen may include your parents. They may be other family members. They are your elders at church, as well as all of your fellow church members. When you sin, God does not want your fellow Christians to look the other way and ignore it, or to think someone else will take care of it. He wants them to warn you and call you to repent of that sin.
Do you like it when they call you to repent? Your sinful nature doesn't like it when someone tells you that you've done something wrong. I don't like it, either. We get defensive about our behavior. We make excuses for what we've done. We point the finger back to try to take the attention off our sins. By nature, we don't like God's law. But when we fail to listen to the watchmen who proclaim it to us, we are refusing to listen to the Lord himself. If we don't repent, we will die for our sins, and because we've been warned, our blood will be on our own hands.
Just as we have fellow Christians who are watchmen in our lives, so we are also fellow Christians to other people. God has posted you to be watchmen for your fellow Christians. Since you know how it feels when people point out your sins, you know that they may not like it when you point out their sins. God tells you to warn others, but you hesitate to do it. Sometimes you refuse to do it. We ignore the signs of danger. We fall down on the job that the Lord has given to us. Then if those people die in their sins, their blood is on our hands.
We've sinned by not listening to God's watchmen, and we've sinned by not being faithful watchmen. Is there any hope that we might be saved? Yes, there is. Today God calls us to repent of these sins. And he promises that the blood of Jesus washes the blood off our hands, washes our sins away, and makes us clean.
The Lord said to the people of Israel that he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Those words are still true today. God does not want any person to die for his own sins. He proved it when he sent his Son Jesus to die in the place of all the wicked. Jesus suffered and died to pay for all the sins of the world, including all of your sins. And now he posts watchmen who call you and me to repent and then comfort us with the gospel that our sins are forgiven and we will live eternally in heaven.
Listen to the watchmen that God has posted for you. Some people really don't like pastors preaching the law. "He's just another man," they say. "What gives him the right to say those things to me?" they ask. But even though they are human beings, pastors have authority from Jesus and are called to do this very work for the good of God's people. When they proclaim the law and gospel in church, listen. When they confront you personally, take it to heart. Repent of your sins. Then when they proclaim the good news of forgiveness, believe it.
But it's not just pastors. Jesus wants other Christians to confront you when you have sinned, so that when you've repented they can forgive you. God does forgive us through our fellow Christians. God uses the Word that they preach to work in us so that we turn from our sins and live.
Don't only listen to your watchmen. Be a watchman. We are responsible to warn your fellow Christians. Because God teaches us how important it is, we must do it. We want others to turn from their sins and live. We don't need to worry about them being angry with us. The Lord's Word will work on their hearts. God will bring people to repent and live through you. So preach his law when it is appropriate. And proclaim his forgiving gospel so that they may be forgiven and live!
Who is the watchman today? Your pastor is. Your fellow Christians are. You are. Listen to the watchmen. Be the watchman.